Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ajay Chandrakar on Wednesday said that each village will be transformed into a ‘Model Village’ in Chhattisgarh.
“There is already a law in place to create ‘model villages’ in Chhattisgarh with top priority accorded to building toilets,” he said, while speaking at the workshop on ‘MP Model Village Scheme’ at Nimora in Raipur district.
Chandrakar said that it is mandatory to keep one quintal rice in gram panchayats for the emergency needs of the villagers.
The day-long workshop was inaugurated by the member of ‘MP Model Village Scheme’ Central Working Committee Popat Rao Pawar .
Pawar is the Deputy Sarpanch of Model Gram Panchayat Hiwde Bazaar in Maharashtra.
The Sarpanch is also recipient of resident’s award for ‘Model Village’. The Central Government has given him the responsibility of making 100 model villages in Maharashtra.
The Sarpanch said that he was elected to the post as he was more educated than others who became Sarpanch in 1989.
The top priority was water security in his village which Pawar ensured with the help of ‘Jal Grahan Mission’.
He concentrated on the quality of school education with the help of teachers and took the co-operation of citizens in streamlining Public Distribution System (PDS), Anganwadis and health services.
Pawar revealed that he strengthened the ‘Gram Sabha’ while also creating job opportunities to almost all the residents which made people who migrated to other places start returning to the village. Now the village has become ‘Model Village’ for the entire country and was awarded the President’s Medal.
He said that representatives from foreign nations, ministers, MPs and MlAs regularly visit the village to analyse the development model. About 112 representatives from various countries studied the model.
Pawar said that Gram Panchayat earns an income of `2 lakh every year which is utilised in the development of the village. He encouraged the children to save money to keep them away from bad habits. The children have saved `14 lakh.
Panchayat and Rural Development Department Additional Chief Secretary M K Raut, Secretary P C Misra, Sarpanchs of ‘Model Village Scheme’ villages, Deputy Sarpanchs, Panchayat Secretaries and senior officers were present.